Menu Planning and Grocery Shopping

This may not be a post of much interest to most. But keep in mind that this is also where I put things for me to look back on, and to help others. Sometimes a blog I read will be doing a post on schedules and they ask everyone to share their schedules with them. And sometimes they do a post on feeding a large family and ask for people to share their menus or shopping lists. So this is here for that reason, and for anyone curious as to what I feed these kiddos and a peek at our shopping list.

Here is what is on my current menu, that I made up last night and this morning:

Breakfast
I don't have set days for what we eat for breakfast. Although Sunday mornings we have our normal lunch food, since we won't be having a snack. So breakfasts are smoothies made with greens, fruit, keifer/yogurt, and healthy fats. The girls may also have extra fruit on the side, or a muffin.

Lunch
I set aside a specific lunch for each day, these are the types we are having:
pancakes
waffles
scrambled eggs and biscuits
oatmeal
juicy eggs and toast
egg burritos

Dinner
Our dinners are more varied and are the following for the next two weeks:
grilled cheese, corn on the cob
baked potatoes
chicken and rice burritos
corn bread, beans, salad
broccoli soup, wheat bread
baked beans, wheat bread, salad
focaccia, salad, deviled eggs
sweet-n-sour meatballs (on rice)
pizza, salad
taco salad
baked potatoes
chicken soup, wheat bread
black beans and rice (on tortillas)
grilled cheese, corn on the cob
chicken quasadillas, salad

A few of those seem to be very minimal dinners and that is on purpose. Those would be our Sunday dinners, which we keep light since we eat a buffet lunch at church. And of course there are repeats since I can only seem to come up with so many different things to make, or wish to make, keeping it simple for me. When I put too many different or new dishes in my week I tend to get overwhelmed and fall behind and make something not planned since it seems too much for me that particular night. I also try to make up more rice than I need that particular night for another nights meal. Same with salad. I make a huge salad to have over a few days. Not all our salads are green lettuce. I will have two that are different, one with red cabbage, apples, carrots and other yummies. Another will be a tobouli type salad with parsley, cilantro, avocado, tomatoes, cucumbers and nuts. So it varies. I need to get off and get a few things done, so the grocery list will have to wait till later or another day.

It's Birthday Time

Happy Birthday Saoirse!!!

I'm writing this the night before Saoirse's birthday. We celebrated her birthday today. We decorated with blue, yellow and white streamers (her choice of colors), and had a birthday cake decorated by Isabella. Everyone else wanted to decorate it as well, but that would have been pure chaos. As it was I was on frosting patrol. It was a demanding job! The design was of a pink flower with a smiley face. We have pictures (only if Blogger will let me put them up). A great time was had by all. Jedidiah was too busy showing off for Grandpa and Nana to take a much needed nap. We really thought that he was going to fall asleep right in his chair sitting up at dinner time. Saoirse got a little book, and a neat magnetic ABC board. Then she got to open our gift as well, although she knew what is was going to be already, a stuffed dog. All her siblings have a special stuffed dog, and she was the only one who didn't. So that is what she asked for her birthday. Tomorrow we will have her birthday dinner. She chose steak, cranberry sauce (I think with prompting from her siblings) and blueberries. I wanted to get fresh blueberries, but it was 4$ for a TINY box of them. I mean TINY! I could have bought a box just for her I suppose, but tomorrow I will check the online sales ads for any sales on blueberries.

So big birthday wishes to our cutie pie! She is one sweet girl.

Here is the cake. I am not sure why the smiley looks funky here. It was yummy!

Here is the birthday girl getting sung to. She was so excited that it was her birthday.

And here she is with her new gifts. We will have to keep Jedidiah from thinking he can take over her dog. He loves stuffed dogs, and thinks all of them are his!

And here is Jedidiah enjoying making a mess of the cake. Flannery I am sure was probably trying to feed him! He doesn't go for that!

Strawberry picking

I took the camera with us, but never snapped any shots. We headed out to the playground first. We walked around the trail to begin with and Jedidiah only fell about a half dozen times, and he has the banged up, bloody, scraped knees to prove it! I tried carrying him, but he wanted to walk on his own. Then we went to the store really quick, and then it was off to the strawberry patch. Everyone had a lot of fun. And we have two flats of berries that are really yummy! Isabella topped everyone by filling up her whole bucket. Saoirse wanted to stick around to fill up hers, but we may have been there all day if we did that! Even Jedidiah helped by putting the berries in the bucket (after they were picked by one of us).

We had a full house last night! And I mean FULL. We volunteered our house for the Wednesday night prayer meeting. And we had about 100 people in here. And no that is not an exaggeration! This was the first prayer meeting that I have attended since keeping Jedidiah out late more than one night of the week make him more susceptible to getting sick. It was really amazing how even the young children were praying.

I recently changed Jedidiah's g-tube button myself. And it is soooo much easier on him and me than the ng-tube he used to have. It went well. He has stagnated in his weight gain. And I am making theories about it. About two weeks ago I stopped using the good bacteria. We got some keifer this past week and I was starting him really slowly on it as I wanted to make sure he didn't have a reaction. Well he stopped gaining weight. AND he started having those messy diapers with "The Smell". I think I wrote about "The Smell" some time ago. And isn't it interesting that during those months (many in a row) he wasn't gaining weight! There is obviously some sort of correlation. And by golly I made sure to put the good bacteria in is afternoon feeding as of this afternoon. We'll see if that is what is really making the difference. I will continue with the keifer, but also keeping the good bacteria in there. Plus I will try adding some flax seed oil to his baby food. He needs some added concentrated calories I think to help him out.

Ok, off to make some lunch. Then we need to finish with school and then we are off to our Bible study. We have stuck with our Bible study that we had with our old church. We have been reading Pilgrim's Progress. It has been a great read! This will be the last night of the study.

Oh, and make sure you check out Jerry's blog, it's linked on my side bar. It will be sure to challenge you :-)

Purple yummies, and other stuff

Ok, hopefully Blogger will be working today and I will be able to upload some pics. The kids are outside in the back playing (while I look on from my window), and Jedidiah is sleeping. We are not sure what is up with that child. He has taken to not sleeping well and waking early. Today he tried to get up at 5:30! Um, I don't think so! Mommy doesn't do 5:30, now 6:30 is fine with me, but not any earlier. So I had him "hooked up" to his feeding, with him watching his beloved Alex and Leah (Signing Time), and he was getting all fussy. Hmmmm, that's weird, he's always happy to watch Alex and Leah. Well a few minutes later I walk over to him (I had been making waffles on our new waffle maker) and the kiddo fell asleep sitting up. Poor thing! I transferred him to his crib and I am hoping he will sleep longer than 45 minutes! Maybe with the girls outside it won't be as noisy. So I am taking a moment, before I jump to other things to write a post.

So we had bought a waffle maker last week or the week before and it came in yesterday. Everyone was excited to try it out. It works great, although it is different from the one we had. You kinda get used to the same appliance, especially if you use it all the time. So it is non-stick....or so it says. I have to say it is much better with the non-sticking than our last one, but something to get used to. Plus I believe they need to expand their definition of Belgian waffle. I am thinking "thick", but I am not sure what they were thinking. Now I have resolved the issue, as I don't turn the waffle maker over as you are supposed to. If I were I have these paper thin waffles, but if I don't then they come out nice, thick, and fluffy. I made the same batter I always do, although I soaked my flour last night. The girls were raving at how delicious they were and they all ate much more than normal! So I have one measly waffle left over to freeze.....hmmm, I better make three batches next time.

We also got a new blender the other day. Yes, it does seem odd to go out and buy something like that when your hubby has been told he only has a couple months on the job, BUT I use mine ALL the time. So we got one last week, it was broke. Then we got another one, and it had a funny smell to it. I figured it was that new plastic smell going on until Jerry told me to come to the back of the blender (it was on the island counter), and there were flames on the inside!!! Yes, blue flames! So two blenders down. We were going cheapo here, so we decided to spend a few extra dollars to get a well known name. It works like a dream! It works better than my other one ever did! My other one said it was supposed to blend everything within 60 seconds. Umm, yeah, sure....maybe mine was just defective, I'm not sure, but it took a lot longer than 60 seconds, plus I had to keep pushing everything down towards the blades. But this new blender is fast and no pushing needed. I have some yummy purple smoothies to show for it too. The girls are getting used to this new way of eating. I am glad that they are consuming less sugar and more greens than they were before. We need to work out some kinks, but little steps at a time.

We have tried one new recipe this week. The raw strawberry shortcake. For those who don't know raw, anything that is raw and has the name of a well know recipe, well you just know it isn't going to be the same....at all! Ha, ha. But that doesn't mean it's not good, just different. So I throw in the nuts and a bit of salt into the food processor. Grind till they are fine crumbs (flour like) and then I was supposed to add dates. Ahhh, I should know better to make sure all the ingredients are in my pantry before I begin. So I substituted agave nectar instead. Pour into a bowl. Then you add half of your strawberries to the food processor (fp), and just get them chopped up a bit. Add to your bowl with the nuts. Add the remaining strawberries to the fp adding a bit of honey and let it get liquidy. Pour into nut bowl. Mix together and then be prepared to eat it quickly! Well if you have children that is. Mine couldn't get enough and we were all eating really fast to get the most! Ok, I made sure to tell everyone to slow down, make sure we had good manners and that sort of stuff :-) Seriously this is some good stuff! There is a little video of it at The Garden Diet on the net.

We are gearing up for another birthday. In less than one week! Saoirse will be four! Wow, four! And I think as an early gift to herself she decided to give herself a haircut! What is it about a 3 almost 4 year old and hair cuttings! I mean ALL of my girls have done it! It won't be so bad if Jedidiah does it as I can just give him a buzz cut, but the girls are a different story. It is entirely different if the said child takes forever and ever to grow hair!!!! I am hoping with our improved nutrition that it will grow faster, otherwise we have a long wait ahead of us. Thankfully it was just her bangs, and at least she just chopped them, instead of cutting them all off like Isa did when she was newly 4.

Ok, I need to call in the girls and pop in an exercise video, then finish school (just language arts left) and then dinner prep, and cleaning, then the girls do history with Jerry, then family worship, and then bed! Phew, I'm tired just thinking about it.

Oh, yeah and if anyone wants to see a REALLY funny video of Jerry and the girls singing the geography songs, you can send me lots of money first, and then I will release the video. Ha, ha. I caught them on the camera video last night while they were singing and it is hilarious. Jerry says he is going to make that video disappear. I am sure he would kill me if I put it up, that is why I would have to charge you all, then maybe he wouldn't knock me off :-) I was laughing so hard my stomach hurt. Although I am sure it has something to do with really weak and stretched tummy muscles! Ok, you all have a great day!

UGH! I just tried to put up the pics and it still won't let me!!! Wahhhhh. It will have to wait till another day. I don't get it, Blogger must have something against me. My sister put up pictures and she uses Blogger. Better luck next time.

Crunchiness rating

Is that even a word? Crunchiness, I mean. Oh well if it's not! Ok, so what is the point of this post? Nothing but some musings in my head really. I got to spend a wonderful afternoon with a friend, trying out her goat milk. And let me tell you, she was NOT joking that the milk tasted just like cows milk! I told her I that I knew she wasn't lying to me, but I figured that maybe she had just gotten used to the "goaty" taste. Now mind you I've only had goats milk once from the store.....YUCK! Can we say liquid dirt? That's what it tasted like! So she hands me a small glass of her milk, and I'm ready to make faces in advance....I sip.....I taste....and am Wowed by the fact that I thought perhaps she made a mistake and just poured some whole milk from the store? She laughed at me. Anyways we were talking health stuff. And I say, yeah, I'm a crunchy momma underneath....and she pipes in that she is too, but it's too darn expensive to be crunchy! Ha, isn't that the truth! So this is my post just listing all the things I do that are "crunchy" and all the things I wish I could do, but time, money or other factors are in the way right now and probably will always be. But I am comforted by the fact that I am sure the I will get my chance at some of this in heaven. Well maybe, and if not I probably won't be caring about it anyways!!

Here are some of the things I do now:
Grind my own wheat
Make our own laundry detergent
Am a health nut freak.....no really, just ask Jerry!
I juice
Ummmm, well that is quite a short list. Ok, here are some things I do, but that are not exactly crunchy, or things I have thought would be neat to do:
I homeschool, and in my perfect world we would be going outside doing nature studies, the girls would be doing all these really cool things, but right now, we do the basics....maybe one day
I have in the past and hope to with the next baby to cloth diaper.
We would be wearing all organic cotton clothing.
We, as in the girls and I would be wearing modest, but slightly funky clothing...as in batik skirts. I love them, not sure why I don't have one, but hey, at this time in life, clothing is whatever we can get at a good price.
We would have an extensive garden and fruit trees and plants and......well we know that gardens take time, and by golly I don't have the time, but I would still love one!
We would eat all organic.....growing would be cheaper, but see above reason why we don;t :-)
I would have all wooden bowls, or glass, or other non plastic items in the kitchen
I would have only wooden and cloth toys for my children, all open ended play type of stuff
We would have bookshelves full of great literature at the disposal of little hands
We would have quality art supplies for the kids to indulge in (not only something I would love, but the Bluedorns say it's important too....They are a homeschooling family, we have their book and it's great!)

Hmmmm, I am sure there is a bunch more, but it's getting late, I have been waiting for some popcorn I scarfed down to settle low in the tummy so it won't come up high in the tummy when I lay down and give me heartburn :-) So my brain is at half mast right now. Anyways that was just a fun list to put together. Clearly there are many more important matters to think about. Sometimes it is a hard balance for me. I mean we are only here on the earth a short while and God has given us a job to do, so am I even supposed to be thinking about things like this? In the long run, No, after all it says in Matthew for us to not worry about what we will eat and wear as God has clothed the fields and feeds the birds, how much more will He take care of us. But at the same time, we have these choices to make. I mean, we will at some point buy toys for our children....which ones. We have to wear clothing....what kind? We need to eat.....which is the healthiest, or what God intended for us to eat? And so on. Have I rambled enough? Sorry.

And in my head there are more things to think upon, like adoption, like praying, keeping in the Word, being diligent, making the most of my time with my children, and on and on and on. I think I am making myself tired just thinking about all of this!

Tomorrow we are going to try to hit the farmers market in town before my appointment with our midwife. It just opened for the season last week and I am excited to see what they have available this time of year.

Have a great night! I will try to get those pictures up of me torturing, er I mean, of my children drinking thier smoothies. We have been making the raw strawberry shortcake from The Garden Diet, and it is fabulous. It makes enough for four or so people....and by golly I have to share it all since the kids are crazy about it! And miracle of miracles Flannery actually filled a bowl with salad and ate most of it! Plus she tried a tomatoe, didn't like it, but I almost fell over that she all on her own decided to try a vegetable!

Changes...

Ahh, ya gotta love change.......well sometimes. We've had a few things here that have changed. The major one, and the not fun one was the news that Jerry is loosing his job. Thankfully his manager has given him plenty of notice, and so there will be some time for him to look for another job. I wish I could say that I took the news well. But my very first thought that popped in my head was, ' I can't fathom the idea of having to move!'. Not that we are planning to move mind you, just the thought of the remote possibility freaked me out. It took me the day to just lay it before the Lord and trust the He has all of this in His hands. But that did set me back a bit in being consistent with the children's training (really mommy training), and boy did things get crazy here quick. Not like they would have some weeks ago mind you, but it has been so peaceful here daily that it really threw me for a loop. So I am getting back on my horse and I'm gonna keep on plowing thorough!

The other change is dietary. We only started yesterday mind you, but a change is a change, and seeing as how I bought groceries accordingly we have to stick with it :-) I wanted to go sugar free. Not sugar free as in man made sweeteners (they are poison), but all regular processed sugar. We will only be using raw honey, pure maple syrup or agave nectar. Plus any wheat product or rice will be presoaked the night before. We are also getting away from any canned food and any food that has preservatives or food colorings in it. That pretty much takes care of any boxed food! I saw a real need to get my kids off of these chemicals (and they are chemicals, and there are too many real and true stories of how some of these affect children's behavior or they are allergens), and sugar, well that is just a toxin to the body....in the amounts that we eat it at. Soooooo, it took me a long time to come up with some changes to implement that wouldn't be far out, and too fast. So here is the plan:

Breakfast: Green smoothies! Yes, green. I have a lovely picture of one below for proof that they are green, although this one is more army green. We are starting small in the green department because it freaks some of my kids out, especially one particular 6 year old. I swear that child has a phobia of vegetables! All of them! So this is what our smoothies contain, it will vary so we can have different tastes, but this is the basis-right now yogurt, although this will be replaced keifer made from goats milk, then coconut oil (contrary to popular belief this is VERY healthy for you), flax seed oil (get those omega 3's), some type of greens (spinach, lettuce, kale, Swiss chard, dandelion greens, turnip greens, etc. it's important to mix them up and not eat the same ones day after day), and a bunch of fruit, fresh and frozen, plus any extra water to adjust thickness.

Lunch: This is where we needed a big change as the girls were eating mac and cheese, peanut butter and jelly "stuff". So we are now having our regular breakfast foods here, although they will be improved by the soaking. So waffles, pancakes, biscuits, eggs, muffins. Soaking is important, because it is not true that whole wheat is healthy for you otherwise. Grains have natural chemicals that protect them from germinating prematurely. And these chemicals interfere with how your body absorbs the nutrients from the grains. Interesting stuff I tell you.

Snacks: We have two a day and they will be fruit, veggies and dip (made with sour cream and spices on hand, the packaged stuff has MSG), or muffins.

Dinner: We will have a big salad available at each dinner, plus our normal fare. Dinner has basically always been homemade, so I am not making any changes here, at least for now. There are some things I will be making that compared to the SAD diet are healthy, but knowing what I know about what is really and truly healthy they fall short. But I can only change so much at one time :-)

And wouldn't you know yesterday, being the first day of our new venture, I was making our (going to be DAILY smoothie) when my blender died!!!!! Um, yeah.....so for now we will have to have the greens made into a green juice until we get a new blender. We really need something like a Vitamix, but with no job lined up, we will have to go with a cheapo from Walmart. So it will be juice and fresh fruit in the mornings until the new blender gets here.

In Jedidiah news, he has been eating a lot the past few days. He is doing very well. He and Flannery got some kind of viral of some sort as they both broke out with this rash. Flannery's cleared up in about three days, but you can still see where Jedidiah's was, although it looks very faded now. I worry a little bit about Fith's disease as I did not have it as a child. It is called by many names, and most people have had it already. But being pregnant and getting it could (although the possibility is small) cause problems with the growing baby. I don't think that is what they had as neither had the characteristic red cheeks.

We are off today to test taste the goats milk. Then to the library to get new books. And if all has gone well to that point maybe off to the park for a bit. It is supposed to be a beautiful day today.

Well I went to post the pictures of everyone drinking thier green smoothie and Blogger won't let me, some error message popped up. I will have to try later. Maybe Moira will have them up on her blog. She wanted to post them to show how I "torture" them. Very funny Moira. Actually Saoirse wanted more, and Flannery unfortunately had a tummy bug yesterday, so she didn't want to eat anything. Pictures will have to wait till later. Gotta get my day started.

Pregnancy pic

Ok, for some reason in these pictures I don't look as big as I feel. I truly feel like I am 36 weeks preggers and not 26! I feel great, although I am not looking forward to gaining a ton more weight. I've gained 25 pounds so far, which puts me on target for my usual 40-45 pound gain. I'm just hoping that this is not a 10 pound baby. I'm praying for a healthy 7 pounder this time around. Last time I prayed for a small baby with a normal sized head and I got one! Certainly smaller than I was expecting! So this time I am praying more specifically :-)

Tomorrow is a big shopping day. I also get to go out and look for some maternity wear, or material to make some clothing. I HATE the options for maternity skirts. I have an excellent pattern to make some myself. I have to get some pics up for Angie. Right now the skirt I need to take a pic of is in the laundry. I want to make some nice summery ones. I also need some new sneakers and sandals. And on top of that we told Isabella and Moira they could get their ears pierced. We'll see if Moira will go through with it. She is waiting to see if Isabella lives to tell of her experience. She is totally pain phobic, so I'm not imagining that she will go through with it (Moira that is). She's surprised me in the past though.

Ok, off to make some yummy pancakes. I woke up early but have been spending too much time looking for decent maternity clothes online...so breakfast will be late. Ok, not really late as we usually eat a late breakfast anyways, but I thought, wow, I'll be ahead of the game today....NOT! :-) And please go check out Isabella's new post.....she's been asking me to check it daily for comments (hint, hint).

Twenty six weeks! Getting closer (almost three months left). Three months seems like forever and not enough time all in one right now.

Here's a little doll blanket I crocheted up last night for Flannery. It was nice to whip something up so quick. The yarn is thick and of course the blanket is small. I am in the process of making Saoirse's blanket, but having trouble getting into it. I think it's the choice of yarn, I'm not fond of the color or the feel of it. Plus I can't find a good pattern for her. She just wants a plain ol' blanket, no frills. I've been searching for a pattern for the baby's blanket which will be next.

A message for Emma

(for the record it is 11:05 pm, so I am still on time)




HAPPY BIRTHDAY EMMA!!!!

I hope you had a great day!!!! Wow, it's the BIG 5!! I pray that you have a blessed year!

A "sad" day

No nothing serious (thankfully!). It all started like a normal day. There I was making some waffles and the girls were playing with their playdoh. To understand this a little better you have to know that we do not do cereal for breakfasts. We only have eggs, oatmeal, pancakes or waffles. And while I'm at it I like to make more waffles than needed to freeze for later. Due to the type of recipe, I make one batch up at a time. I had just made the second batch and poured some mix into the waffle maker. And then it happened........I flipped the waffle maker over (we have an old waffle maker that you flip so that it makes them nice and thick) and sparks flew out the back, making this loud popping noise! Our waffle maker bit the dust. So very sad! Waffles are one of the things I make up in large (large) quantities before I have a baby so that the kids can fix breakfast for themselves. Thankfully we got online and are in the process of finding a new replacement. In the meantime, pancakes will have to do.

In other news we saw our first hummingbird yesterday. We ran out after that and got the feeder as it needed to be cleaned. We are hoping to see the little guys today. And with spring comes a host of other critters..........not so cute. We had been outside earlier and I saw a large dog tick on my sock. YUCK! I got it off and called everyone in. We did the usual tick check. Sometimes however they "hide" and even though I may do another check later before bed someone may wake up with one attached to them. So it was late, I was folding laundry when Isabella, with very wide eyes and a trembling voice, comes up to me saying, "Mom!, Mom! There's a BIG, BIG....." she pauses and I assume she is about to tell me that there is a big tick on her. But no, she finally continues to tell me there is a BIG centipede in the bathroom. Oh, lovely. I HATE those things. They are sooooo creepy and yucky and gross and ........FAST. I learned my lesson the last few times, that they are almost impossible to get. So I vacuumed him up. Then to be sure we had a good night sleep I stuffed a paper towel in the vacuum hose.....you know, just in case he's not really dead. I will have to wait till Jerry comes home to take out the bag (he doesn't know this yet!). Ah the joys of the south. That is truly one thing I can live with out...............BUGS. I really think in my human mind that God could have come up with something better, more pleasant to take care of what ever it is that bugs take care of. I'll have to speak to Him about that someday :-)

Ok, off I go to make some eggs. We are off to a Bible study this morning. I haven't been to it the last two times, so I'm looking forward to going. The girls are as well, as they get to play with some friends. Have a great day!

Signing Time with Jedidiah

Jedidiah and the girls watch a video series called Signing Time. It teaches kids sign language. I taught the last three signs and it really helped figure out what they were asking for. Tonight we were able to grab a few photos of Jed doing some signs. Obviously it would have been neater to get them on video, but our camera memory card would have only been able to hold one at a time. Anyways.....lets see he knows the following signs: more, water, apple, food, cookie, bird, lion, dog, hat, tired, cry, don't like, like, hot, cold, and there may be a couple more that I can't think of at the moment. So here he is doing some of the signs.


This is cookie. He did this last night on our way out of Walmart and I had not gotten our free cookie. He was sitting in the cart doing this sign and it took me a moment to figure out he was asking for a cookie. I promptly went back and got one!

Oh, yeah, here is another I forgot to list, this is "fright". He doesn't do the hand motion with it, but the facial expression is priceless!

This is ball. One of his favorite toys.

And here is hat.

He just started this one as well the other day. This is tired. It's really cute when he will droop his head for added emphasis.

This one is cry. It is similar to the tired sign, at least when he does it. But you are supposed to drag on finger (on each side) down your cheek, he uses all of his fingers. Maybe he is bawling instead?

There you have it. The funny thing is he will start a sign and then a couple of days later he will say the actual word for the first time. Go figure. He has so far been one of those kids who waits to actually do something only when he knows he will be able to completely do it. Like his walking. We knew he could walk, he had the skills, but he wouldn't. He literally took only three steps one day and the next he was walking over the whole house! He didn't practice like most kids do. Same with crawling. Normally kids will rock back and forth on their hands and knees for a while before they take off. No, he just up and crawled one day. The therapist would have the hardest time trying to get him into a hands and knees position, and he would just cry and cry about it. Then, boom, he does it all on his own and off he went.

Ok, I have to give Jedidiah a bath. He has been asking for one and is eagerly anticipating splashing and pouring water. Have a great night.

Nothing new

Just thought I would check in. Nothing exciting going on around here. I have been very, VERY busy with the child training. We have seen some major improvements. But like I thought, the little strongholds are starting to show their faces and it has been a bit more work these last couple of days. Jerry, Isabella and Moira are off to a fatherhood conference today. Jerry and Isa went yesterday. Isabella thought this would be a good way for her to learn what to look for in a husband. She took five pages of notes yesterday! Jerry says that it has been an amazing conference so far. Today is the last day. We are hosting one of the attendees this weekend. We enjoy fellowshipping with others from around the states. It is fun. The girls always look forward to having a guest. They were the ones who set up the room for him. Isabella wants to make pancakes for our guest as well. Too cute.

We have been getting some rain lately. Which is a real blessing. We have a statewide drought going on right now, so we've been praying for rainy days. We actually had a big thunderstorm last night. It's been a long while since we had one of those. Nothing like being awoken to what sounds like your house just blew up!

This coming week I am going to try to get back into some outside activities. It will be a case by case situation as I am determined to not drop the ball on the child training. It seems like we have forever until the baby will be here and at the same time I feel overwhelmed at times at all I want to get done before the baby gets here. Crazy I tell ya.

Ok, not much else to share. I hope everyone has a great day!